TRIBUTES have been paid to Britain’s longest surviving heart transplant patient, who lived for nearly 34 years after his lifesaving operation.

Brian Price from Caldicot remarkably became the first heart transplant patient to complete a marathon run, when he ran the 1985 Boston Marathon in America just 15 months after his operation.

His death means that the UK’s longest surviving transplant patient is now thought to be another man with local connections, former Rank Xerox, Mitche­ldean, engineer Steve Syer, 75, who had his operation three weeks after the Welsh father-of-two.

Mr Price, who worked at Llanwern Steelworks for more than 30 years, passed away aged 77 on Sunday, January 14, 13 days before the 34th anniversary of his operation, and his funeral was yesterday (Tuesday, February 6).

The father-of-two, who had five grandchildren, became Britain’s longest surviving heart transplant patient in February 2016, after the death of John McCafferty of Newport Pagnell, who survived for 33 years and two months.

Daughter Jenny Bowen, sister of Kerry, paid tribute to her “sports mad dad” who kept weight training up until five years ago.

“We went running with him when he was getting fit after his op, but were amazed when he did the Boston Marathon just over a year later. It was a brilliant effort.

“He knew lots of people and always had a word for them, and I think sport and keeping fit really helped him live life to the full.

“He did the Cardiff Triathlon in 1986, played squash and loved his rugby and coached for a while. He was often helping people with training advice at Caldicot Leisure Centre, and as far as we know, he was the country’s longest surviving heart transplant patient.”

Following his transplant on January 27, 1984, fitness fan Brian was determined to get back on his feet as soon as possible, and amazed his doctors by completing the 26-mile mara­thon run as part of a 15-strong group of heart patients.

Mr Price, and wife Nita, 75, married in 1961 in Pontypool and moved to Caldicot three years later.

His funeral was due to take place yesterday at Caldicot Methodist Church, followed by interment at Caldicot cemetery.

Like Mr Price, Mr Syer also became a keen runner after his transplant on February 18, 1984.

Told a transplant was the only option because his heart would only last another 12 hours, world-famous surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub and his team still only believed Mr Syer would perhaps survive for a year or two after the op.

“They said if I survived a year it would be good. If I survived five years, it would be a miracle,” said the dad-of-two, who now lives in Brockworth near Gloucester.

But he returned to work in Mitcheldean six weeks after his operation, began jogging up to 20 miles a week, and even took part in biathlon events for charity.

Two years ago, the grandfather-of-six needed a second transplant when one of his kidneys failed, with wife Christine donating the organ

And now more than three decades after his heart op, he and his wife have helped raise more than £1.8m for the British Heart Foundation.

“The extra years of life have allowed me to see my children grow up, get married and have children,” he said, making a plea to people to sign up to the organ donor register.

“Donating your organs you can make a huge difference to someone’s life, like the young man who donated his heart which I received.”